Prophet Muhammad ﷺ advised his followers not to travel to places where plague is affected and told those who were ill to stay at home and not spread the disease further afield. In fact, health authorities across the globe take Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ wise advice every day. They rely on two strategies to stop the spread of Covid 19, quarantine and isolation. Isolation is for those who are already afflicted and quarantine is for those who are exposed to the illness but who may or may not become ill. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not preface his advice on quarantine with “if you are sick”. People may spread a contagion even if they are not showing any signs of disease. Thus quarantine and other public health control measures are essential. They reduce the contact between those with the disease and those susceptible to the disease.

If someone is saying that people should not stay at home for fear of life, but should come to Masjids and be involved in prayers, entrusting everything in God, they have not yet understood the meaning of the Islamic command of “trusting in God.” A believer should learn the meaning of tawakkul from the Hadith narrative reported by Tirmidhi: A man once asked the Prophet: “should someone entrust one’s camel with God, after letting it loose from the rope; or do it after tying it?” The Prophet ﷺ told him: “Tie your camel first, and then entrust.” To entrust a camel with Allah after letting it loose is not tawakkul, but tawaakkul. It is not entrusting with Allah, which Islam commanded.

“If you entrust with Allah as they are supposed to entrust, He will feed you as He feeds birds.” This statement of Prophet ﷺ quoted in Tirmidhi narrated through Umar al Khattab _ؓ  through a sound transmission chain, does not imply tawaakkul. The Prophet ﷺ added that the birds which set out in the morning with empty stomach come back full in the evening. This means that Allah will assist us for entrusting with Him, only if we do the proper action of setting out for food. If someone arrogantly claims that they know about tawakkul more than the Prophet, they cannot be said to internalise the faith taught by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, however much they exhibit their piety.

Since what Allah destined for us will befall us, however careful we are, why should we stay inside our houses without going to Masjids? If someone is asking such a question, they have not understood what the theory of predestination is. Since Allah is beyond space and time, Islam does not allow us to relate predestination, which is closely entwined with the Knowledge of God, with human actions. Destiny remains closely related to the invincibility and knowledge of God. We have been commanded to do. Those who do not do anything but rather pin blame on destiny are like those who criticise the software for the failure by not brilliantly playing the video game.

An incident is cited by Imam Ibn Hajar al Asqalaani in his Fatah al Bari, which helps us understand the theory of destiny related to epidemics. The incident is this: Syrian Governor Abu Ubaida  _ؓ  informed Caliph Umar  _ؓ  of the news that plague is spreading widely in Syria. Umar _ؓ set out to comfort his subjects who are undergoing afflictions. Then Abdulla Ibn Masood _ؓ shared with the Caliph the Hadith of the Prophet, saying that people from outside should not go to plague-affected regions and those who reside in the region should not go outside. Hearing the words of the Prophet ﷺ, Umar _ؓ stopped his journey midway. Ubu Ubaida was hurt by this decision of the Caliph. He asked him in a letter: “Are you running away from the destiny of Allah?” Umar _ؓ answered: “I am running from the destiny of Allah to the destiny of Allah” Later, Abu Ubaida _ؓ became convinced that his opinion was not according to the direction of the Prophet ﷺ and was not, hence, proper. He corrected himself.
This incident teaches us the great lesson that a believer should not jump into danger, thinking that it is destiny, but he should obey the instructions and do proper course of action. If we are affected by disease after taking proper care, we should console ourselves that it is the destiny of God and it is the ultimate virtue as it is destined by Allah. That is the proper belief in predestination.

A believer should consider the epidemic as a trial and should enrich the free time granted by Allah consequent to the same as an opportunity to increase one’s virtue and good deed. We can enjoy this holiday as true blessing, if we perform the mandatory prayers in congregation with our family; if we insist on Rawatibs; and if we start to practice supererogatory prayers like Tahajjud provided we do not pray them; if we motivate our family for the same; if we make it a habit to observe supererogatory fasting. If we order our time to study Islam-Quran-Hadith with our family, the horizon of our knowledge will be expanded and it will be reflected in our life throughout. To find time to give medical care to the old parents, to cement family relationships via telephone, to copy the Prophetic model by helping our spouses in the kitchen, to increase opportunity and time for romantic conversations with them, to spend time with one’s own children, to help increase their material and spiritual knowledge, to strengthen our bond with the neighbours, to help those who are suffering from among them, to bring food to those who are suffering from poverty on account of joblessness during the lockdown, to care for patients, to be involved in awareness campaigns against the spread of the disease, to participate in the rehabilitation mission of the government. Virtues are galore. They are all good deeds which Allah likes us to do. They are righteous deeds bringing his reward and causing us to enter his Paradise. That is the wealth we have to earn during this lockdown. During corona, only worships to be performed in Masjids are stopped. Allah, for whom we have performed those worships, has not slept. He is alive, closely monitoring us and our action. Let us enrich our free time with actions that will earn us his contentment. May Allah bless us. Ameen.